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X. Optimizing the Full Range of U.S. Efforts

Nothing we do will make us invulnerable, but we can all become less
vulnerable if we work together.

President Bill ClintonSpeech at the United NationsOctober 22, 1995

As the twenty-first century approaches with its unprecedented potential for
bringing together people from around the globe quickly, efficiently and
anonymously, international criminals will be increasingly able to exploit this
potential -- unless effective programs thwart their efforts. Achieving U.S.
national security, foreign policy and law enforcement goals requires us to
optimize efforts to fight international crime.

A. Goal: Optimize the Full Range of U.S. Efforts

The Strategy calls for increasing effectiveness through enhanced
coordination among government agencies. It also calls for strengthening
relationships with the private sector and with our overseas partners.

B. Objectives

Enhance executive branch policy and operational coordination mechanisms to
assess the risks of criminal threats and to integrate strategies, goals and
objectives to combat those threats;

Mobilize and incorporate the private sector into U.S. government efforts;
and

Develop measures of effectiveness to assess progress over time.

C. Programs and Initiatives

1. Enhancing Executive Branch Policy and Operational Mechanisms

National Security Council

The National Security Council (NSC), established by the National Security
Act of 1947, is responsible for coordinating the U.S. response to international
crime, in addition to consideration of all other national security policy issues
requiring presidential direction. The National Security Council consists of the
President, Vice President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. The
Director of Central Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
attend meetings of the NSC as permanent advisors to the Council. By presidential
directive, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Director
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy attend meetings of the NSC as
principal advisors on matters pertaining to their respective jurisdictions.

The NSC oversees the implementation of Presidential Decision Directive 42,
the directive that specifically targets international crime. To ensure sustained
and focused attention to international crime fighting, this presidential
directive establishes the Special Coordination Group (SCG), an interagency team
chaired by a senior member of the NSC staff and comprised of high-level
officials from the Departments of Justice (including FBI and DEA), State, the
Treasury (including Secret Service), and Transportation (including Coast Guard),
the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the intelligence community.

Inter-Departmental Coordination

Specific aspects of international crime fighting are coordinated by
different mechanisms that include groups led by ONDCP, and the Treasury, State
and Justice Departments. These groups each include representatives from the
intelligence community, as well as law enforcement and foreign policy
specialists. ONDCP chairs the key interagency working group coordinating
implementation of international counternarcotics policy. In addition, the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Treasury) and the Asset Forfeiture and
Money Laundering Section (Justice) co-chair a working group on anti-money
laundering operations. The Bureau for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs (State-INL) coordinates the overseas training and technical
assistance components for these and our other international law enforcement
activities. The operational component agencies of these departments also work
hand in hand. Justice agencies such as the FBI and Treasury agencies such as
the Customs Service regularly send liaison officers to the Department of State
to help coordinate investigative and training assistance.

Intra-Departmental Coordination

Within federal departments there is also extensive coordination. At the
State Department, overseas anti-crime activities are coordinated by INL, and
similar functions are performed at the Justice Department by the Criminal
Division in consultation with the National Security Coordinators at each United
States Attorney's Office. These activities are performed at the Treasury
Department by the Office for the Under Secretary for Enforcement.

Law Enforcement-Intelligence Coordination

To facilitate and improve our international anti-crime operations, federal
law enforcement officials work in conjunction with the intelligence community in
strict compliance with oversight laws prohibiting intelligence agencies from
engaging in domestic law enforcement. The Administration has received statutory
authority to permit law enforcement agencies to request support from the
intelligence community to identify criminals who operate beyond our shores,
track their movements and collect other information about their activities. This
has added an important tool to our crime fighting efforts. To enhance
cooperation and coordination between their legally separated primary functions,
the law enforcement and intelligence agencies regularly exchange liaison
officers and serve together on specialized teams. An FBI official serves as the
deputy director of the Counterterrorist Center at the Central Intelligence
Agency, and a CIA official serves as the deputy chief of the International
Terrorism Section at the FBI.

Overseas Coordination Mechanisms

The placement of more than 2,000 U.S. law enforcement agents and support
personnel abroad is a vital tool to combat the growing threat of international
criminal activity. Our missions overseas are the forward bases for protecting
and advancing U.S. national interests, including our law enforcement interests.
The FBI, DEA, INS, Coast Guard, Customs Service, Secret Service, Internal
Revenue Service and other federal law enforcement agencies have personnel
abroad. Some of their overseas representatives are assigned regional
responsibilities encompassing both the countries in which they are posted and
other nations in the region. The Diplomatic Security Officers at overseas posts
support operations and investigations for law enforcement agencies that do not
have a permanent representative at that location. Our missions have created law
enforcement teams to coordinate country-specific law enforcement policies and
programs. These teams also coordinate foreign institution building and training
and technical assistance efforts with their foreign counterparts. These teams
then report their activities to Washington so that strategies, policies and
programs are updated in light of the realities in the field.

At our embassies and missions around the world, the Chief of Mission
(usually the Ambassador) has the authority and responsibility for the direction,
coordination and supervision of the various activities of all in-country
official U.S. executive branch personnel, except military personnel under the
command of a U.S. area military commander. The Chief of Mission also has the
duty to keep fully informed with respect to all activities and operations of the
U.S. government within that country. To facilitate that process, the Treasury,
State and Justice Departments have signed a memorandum of understanding, dated
November 14, 1996, clarifying the authority the Chief of Mission exercises over
many individuals from a multitude of departments and agencies. The memorandum
articulates clearly defined responsibilities with respect to the coordination,
by the relevant Chiefs of Mission, of law enforcement activities abroad,
including agreed principles to enhance coordination between each law enforcement
entity's senior representative at post and the Chief of Mission or Deputy Chief
of Mission.

The Administration will strive to enhance the effectiveness of each of these
coordination mechanisms by continuing to review their operations, upgrade their
communications links, and improve interoperability.

We have to . . . understand what American foreign policy is about. It is
to protect the security of [America] and the American people and our way of
life. We have to develop a set of partnerships with countries in order to deal
with global threats that we have not seen before.

Madeleine K. AlbrightSecretary of State January 7, 1998

2. Mobilizing and Incorporating the Private Sector and Foreign
Governments Into U.S. Efforts

Working with the Private Sector

Broad-based collaboration between the public and private sectors is vital.
Such collaboration not only harnesses the wealth of experience and expertise
that exists outside of government, but it also assures that governmental
programs are well suited to meet the needs of Americans and U.S. business
interests. It also reduces the risk that Americans and their businesses might
inadvertently contribute to criminal activity -- for instance in the unwitting
provision of financial services to international criminals -- or become victims
of crime themselves.

Over the last 20 years, increased terrorist and related threats against U.S.
overseas interests have caused many businesses to seek advice and assistance
from the federal government. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a
joint venture between the government and the U.S. private sector, provides
liaison between public and private sector security officials, recommends
planning and implementing security programs abroad, and suggests methods to
protect the competitiveness of overseas American business operations. The OSAC
Committee on Transnational Crime identifies ways to collect and disseminate
economic crime information to protect Americans from financial and trade crimes.
Similarly, regulators from the Federal Reserve Bank and from the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency and other federal officials regularly consult with
bankers, financial analysts, securities specialists and related experts to take
advantage of their experience and to elicit their help in fighting money
laundering and financial fraud cases.

Public-private partnerships build trust, help establish consensus on goals
to protect U.S. interests worldwide, and build support for Administration
decisions to allocate resources. These partnerships are also of vital importance
in safeguarding our nation's critical infrastructures from compromise and attack
by enemies foreign and domestic. The Administration is committed to further
outreach and information sharing with the private sector to meet these goals.

Governments working alone, or even in close cooperation with each other,
will not be fully effective in countering international crime. Real and enduring
success in this vital effort will come only when the private sector -- including
both individual and corporate citizens -- joins in that effort. To that end, the
Administration will develop and implement a Strategic Communications Plan to
engage the private sector in assessing the impact of international crime on the
private sector and determining the role the private sector should play in
countering that threat.

Public Diplomacy

Another dimension in overseas coordination involves cooperation with USIS
field officers responsible for crafting public diplomacy strategies to engage
foreign audiences and opinion makers in support of U.S. policy objectives,
including those in justice and law enforcement areas. The Public Affairs Officer
frequently serves as the mission's press spokesperson and is the point of
contact for all press, public affairs and public diplomacy activities. The PAO
also plays an important role in advising the Chief of Mission and other embassy
officials on foreign public opinion vis-a-vis U.S. policies. The PAOs and their
staffs plan and implement a variety of professional and academic programs and
exchanges, directed at key audiences in government, political parties, academia
and the private sector, to help create a foundation of trust between U.S. and
foreign societies. The USIS and PAOs will play a key role in development and
implementation of the Strategic Communications Plan and other federal
international crime control initiatives.

3. Developing Measures of Effectiveness

With this Strategy we undertake a long term approach to the solution of the
nation's international crime problem. If we are to ensure success, measuring
progress along the way is imperative. The Administration will establish a system
to measure progress on the major goals of this Strategy, provide feedback for
Strategy refinement and system management, and assist the Administration in
resource allocation. As with the performance system currently being created and
implemented by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Administration is
committed to continuously reexamining and refining the goals and objectives set
forth in this Strategy. It will remain dynamic, flexible and responsive as the
international crime threat changes and our knowledge of how to measure
international criminal activity improves.

The measurement system will track our progress on the goals and objectives
set forth in the chapters above. It will seek to quantify our success in: (1)
disrupting major criminal organizations, (2) reducing criminal activity at our
borders, (3) improving coordination among U.S. agencies, (4) improving
coordination with other nations against criminal targets, (5) increasing
adoption of international standards and norms to combat crime, (6) securing
passage and implementation of major anti-crime conventions internationally, (7)
reducing incidence and costs to the United States of intellectual property theft
and economic crime, (8) improving the coordination of international
investigations into and prosecutions of high tech crime, (9)
strengthening international capabilities against smuggling and raising the cost
of smuggling activities to smugglers, (10) strengthening international
cooperation against alien smuggling and reducing the flow of illegal migrants to
the United States, (11) fighting money laundering and financial crime, (12)
increasing the number of nations that extradite nationals and that provide
mutual legal assistance, (13) combating illicit smuggling in firearms, (14)
combating illicit trafficking in women and children, (15) decreasing the
production and distribution of child pornography, (16) combating corruption and
improving the administration of justice in foreign criminal justice
systems, and (17) achieving the other goals and objectives of the Strategy. The
system will allow us to maintain and enhance the most effective components of
the Strategy, understand trade-offs that might emerge as the Strategy is
implemented, improve any components of the Strategy which may have proved less
effective, and undertake rigorous cost-benefit analyses to ensure that U.S.
government resources are used efficiently and effectively.

Presidential Decision Directive 42 (PDD-42)

Signed by President Clinton on October 21, 1995, PDD-42 specifically
addresses the nation's fight against international crime. PDD-42 recognizes that
such criminal activity threatens U.S. national security and directs the federal
agencies to combat international crime from the criminal barons sheltered
overseas to the violence and destruction they deliver to our streets. PDD-42
also provides continuity to earlier Administration policy, complements other
presidential directives on alien smuggling, drug trafficking, terrorism and
nuclear materials, and mandates intensified federal efforts against
international criminals. The Administration's efforts under PDD-42 are well
underway. As one example, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the
Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury has identified egregious
overseas sanctuaries, or "safe havens," for illegally obtained wealth
and has negotiated with those governments to end the safe havens they offer.
Successful negotiations have resulted in strengthened anti-money laundering
regimes and weakened safe havens. If negotiations are unsuccessful, stronger
measures will be employed. Also under PDD-42, the Secretary of State and the
Attorney General are working together to deny visas to a broad range of
international criminals and their families and prevent them from entering the
United States.